Display rack and divider

ABSTRACT

A display rack of the type used for displaying stationery items such as cards and the like. The rack comprises troughlike shelves and associated divider members. The divider members and the shelves are arranged so that the members can be easily adjusted longitudinally of the shelves but cannot be readily removed.

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[54] 1D1SPLA1 RACK AND DKVlIlDlEliR 1111 Qiaims, 6 Drawing Figs.

211/55 ABSTRACT: A display rack of the type used for displaying [51]int. A4715/1111, stationery items such as cards and the like. The rackc0m- A47f 7/00 prises troughlike shelves and associated divider members.The [50] Field ofSearch.........i..................................211/184, divider members and the shelves are arranged so that the 43,162, 55, 50, 4-9; 108/61;'312/140 4, 304; members can be easily adjustedlongitudinally of the shelves 248/225; 40/1242, 124.4 but cannot bereadily removed.

PATETED um 1 21971 3,612,292 SHEH BF 2 INVENTOR. (MALES M. NEVIS ML M1"I g "H ATTO R N E Y 3,,til2,292

llDlldIPlLAil litACllt Ahlll) lDlli/llfillillt The present invention isdirected toward the art of display stands and, more particularly, to anarrangement for dividing display shelves so as to maintain stationeryitems and the like in the proper relationship.

The invention is particularly suited for use in merchandising greetingcards and will be described with particular reference thereto; however,it will be appreciated that the invention is capable of broaderapplication and can be used for displaying a wide variety of similaritems.

In the merchandising of greeting cards and similar stationery items, itis the usual practice to use display racks comprised of troughlikeshelves arranged in tiers. The cards are positioned so as to standvertically in the troughs in side-byside groups. Generally, dividermembers are provided to separate adjacent groups and maintain the cardsin a pleasing and orderly arrangement.

As can be appreciated, the divider members should desirably have certaincharacteristics. First, because of the nonuniform widths of greetingcards, the members should be easily adjustable longitudinally of thetroughs. Secondly, together with the longitudinal adjustment, themembers should preferably be connected to the troughs in a manner whichmakes unauthorized removal extremely difficult. Thirdly, the dividersmust be simple and inexpensive to manufacture and use. And, finally,they should have a pleasing appearance and be very rugged and durable.

The subject invention overcomes the above problems and provides adivider member for use in a display rack of the type having a troughlikeshelf including a bottom wall and opposed front and rear walls eachhaving front and rear faces with at least the front face of the frontwall having a recess formed inwardly thereof. According to the preferredembodiment of the invention, the divider member includes a retainerportion and a divider portion. The retainer portion comprises a plateportion adapted to engage the front face of the front wall and having aprojection for engagement in the recess. The divider portion extendsfrom the plate portion in the same direction as the projection and isconfigured so that at least a portion is spaced from the projection adistance less than the thickness of the front wall. The divider portionis related to the projection such that movement of the divider portionin a direction away from the bottom wall causes the projection to beforced into the recess increasing the engagement between the projectionand the recess.

According to a more limited aspect of the invention the member is aunitary plastic structure and the divider portion extendsperpendicularly to the plate portion.

A primary object of the invention is the provision of an improveddivider member for use in a display rack for maintaining items such asgreeting cards in proper position in the rack.

Another object is the provision of a divider member of the typedescribed which is simple to manufacture and use.

Yet another object is the provision of a display rack and divider memberarrangement wherein the divider members can be readily adjustedlongitudinally of the rack but which cannot be removed by unauthorizedpersons.

These and other objects and advantages will become ap parent from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 11 is a pictorial view of a section of a card display rack providedwith divider members formed in accordance with the preferred embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of lFIG. ll;

H6. 3 is an enlarged side view of one of the divider members;

FIG. i is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing one of the dividermembers engaged with a wall of the rack;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the divider element shown in FIG. 3, and,

FIG. 6 is a pictorial view of the divider element.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein the showings are forthe purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the inventiononly, and not for the purpose of limiting same, lFlG. B shows apictorial view of the rack assembly of the present invention comprisedof a plurality of troughlike shelf-forming units having divider members112 connected thereto. This provides a plurality of card-receivingopenings 14 in which the cards are positioned to stand vertically ingroups 115. in the FIG. ll showing, only a portion of a card rack isshown, however, it is to be appreciated that the rack could be ofsubstantial length so that any desired number of side-by-sidecard-receiving openings M is provided. Additionally, the number of tiersof troughs lltl is not of particular importance and any number can beprovided.

Specifically, although they could be of a variety of differingconstructions, extending walls 11th which, for example, are formedone-fourth inch thick plywood or hardboard. Each of the troughs Eltl,have a bottom wall 118 which is connected between the central portion ofthe rear face of the forward wall of the trough and the lower edge offorward face of the rear wall. It will be noted that each of the wallsi6 is a rear wall for one trough and a forward wall for the nextrearwardly positioned trough.

Although not shown, the ends of the troughs can be closed by verticallyextending end portions or, alternately, left open. Additionally,although the walls 116 are shown as being inclined rearwardly, it is tobe understood that the walls can be positioned so as to extendvertically or even inclined forwardly. Further, although the walls areshown as being parallel they could of course be positioned in slightlynonparallel relationship.

In accordance with the invention, at least the forward walls lid of eachtrough iii) are provided with a. recess 20. In the embodiment underconsideration, each recess 20 extends continuously throughout the lengthof the walls lo and is spaced a short distance downwardly from the upperedge portion of the wall and is parallel thereto. Additionally, althoughnot of importance to the invention, the upper edge of each wall 116 isrounded as shown at 22. As will become apparent hereafter, the recess2t), although shown as continuous throughout the full length of the walllid, could be discontinuous. Similarly, the recess could have manycross-sectional configuration; however, it is preferably as shown, thatis, it is of rectangular cross section having an upper wall 24 a lowerwall 26 and a rear wall 28. This relationship is best shown in FIG. d.

Referring particularly to H615. M, it will be seen that each of thedivider members T2 is arranged to be received on and engaged with theupper edges of the walls 116. Each of the divider members is preferablymolded from a high-strength plastic and comprises a divider portion 30and an integral retainer portion 332. in the embodiment underconsideration each of the retainer portions 32 is relatively platelikein shape and comprises a flat, rectangular plate portion 34 having abase 36 adapted to engage the forward face of the associated wall to.The plate portion 34 is provided with a projection 3% which extendslaterally therefrom. The projection 38 is preferably of a height h whichis no greater than the depth of the recess 2h. Additionally, the loweredge of the plate portion 3d is preferably smoothly tapered up to theinnermost edge of the projection 33.

The upper end or edge of the plate portion 343 extends laterally in thesame direction as the projection. This portion did is, in the embodimentunder consideration, smoothly curved so as to engage a portion of theupper edge 22 of the wall 116, as well as, to present a pleasingappearance.

The divider portion 3% of the member 112 comprises a flat relativelythin section 42 which is formed integrally with the upper section Ali)of the plate portion 34. Referring in particular to FIGS. 3 and d, itwill be noted that the section 4l2 is configured so as to define, incombination with the plate member 34, a recess 43 The recess 43 has alower open portion 44 defined by the innermost edge of the projection 3dand the curved lower corner as of the section 42. The minimum distance dbetween the outermost portion of the projection 33 and the outermostpoint of the curved portion 46 is preferably less than the thickness 1of the small section 16. Additionally,

at the upper or innermost portion of the recess 43 the width ispreferably such that it is wider than the thickness 1 of the wallsection 16. Further, referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that, forreasons which will hereafter be discussed, the distance d between theinner face 36 of the plate 34, and the closest point on the curvilinearsection 46, is slightly less than the thickness tof the wall 16.

The arrangement thus far described allows the divider members to bemanually clipped into position on the upper edge of the walls 16. Notethat to position the dividers on the wall sections it is only necessaryto slide them downwardly in substantially their intended finalorientation. The inclined lower lip or surface on the plate member 16engages the upper rounded surface 22 on the wall section 16. The curvedlower corner 46 on the thin section 42 engages the opposite side of therounded surface 22. Downward pressure causes the plate portion to besprung outwardly until the projection 38 passes into the recess 20. Withthe projection 38 in recess 20, any attempt to remove the dividerelement by pulling upwardly or twisting it causes the projection 38 tomore firmly engage the recess 20. Additionally, referring to FIG. 2, itwill be seen that the length of the divider portion 30 is such that itcannot be rotated in a clockwise direction. Note that the curvilinearportion 46 and the rightmost portion of the divider portion are such asto prevent this type of movement. Thus, the divider cannot be removed byrotating it about the edge 22.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. ln :1 display rack having a bottom wall and opposed sidewalls inspaced and substantially parallel relationship to each other, each ofsaid sidewalls having front and rear faces and an upper edge and atleast one of said sidewalls having a recess extending inwardly from thefront face thereof;

a divider member including a retainer portion and a divider portion,said retainer portion comprising a plate portion having an upper sectionengaging said upper edge of said one of said sidewalls and a projectionincluding a free end extending laterally from one side thereof inengagement with said recess of said one of said sidewalls said dividerportion being attached to said retainer portion and extending from saidretainer portion in generally the same direction as said free end ofsaid projection, said divider portion engaging the rear face of one ofsaid sidewalls, so at least a portion of said divider portion beingspaced from the edge of said projection a distance less than thethickness of said one of said sidewalls, said divider portion being sodisposed from said projection that upon movement of said divider portionin a direction opposite to that of said bottom wall said projection isforced into said recess so as to increase the engagement between theprojection and said recess.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said projection extendsfrom said plate portion generally at a right angle to a plane defined bysaid plate portion.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said plate is of agenerally rectangular shape and said projection takes the form of a ribwhich extends across said plate for a length substantially equal to thelength of said plate.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said plate is resilient tothereby cause said projection extending from said plate to releasablyengage said recess.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said divider portion isresilient to thereby cause said projection to releasably engage saidrecess.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said divided portionconverges toward said plate for at least a portion of the length of saiddivider portion.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said divider portiondiverges from said plate for at least a portion of the length of saiddivider portion.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said convergent anddivergent portions generally define an arcuate configuration wherein atleast one point thereon is spaced from said projection said distanceless than the thickness of said one of said sidewalls.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said arcuate configurationengages the rear face of said one of said sidewalls so as to force saidprojection into said recess.

10. A divider member for use in a display rack for separating aplurality of objects positioned in said display rack and comprising aretainer portion and a divider portion, said retainer portion includinga plate portion having a projection with a free end extending therefromfor engagement with an inwardly extending recess in the front side of awall member of said display rack, said divider portion being attached tosaid retainer portion and extending from said retainer portion ingenerally the same direction as said free end of said projection, saiddivider portion adapted to engage the rear side of said wall member withat least a portion of said divider positioned normally spaced from theedge of said projection a distance less than the thickness of said wallmember, said divider portion being further so disposed from saidprojection that upward movement of said divider portion forces saidprojection into said recess to thereby increase the engagement betweensaid projection and said recess.

1. In a display rack having a bottom wall and opposed sidewalls in spaced and substantially parallel relationship to each other, each of said sidewalls having front and rear faces and an upper edge and at least one of said sidewalls having a recess extending inwardly from the front face thereof; a divider member including a retainer portion and a divider portion, said retainer portion comprising a plate portion having an upper section engaging said upper edge of said one of said sidewalls and a projection including a free end extending laterally from one side thereof in engagement with said recess of said one of said sidewalls said divider portion being attached to said retainer portion and extending from said retainer portion in generally the same direction as said free end of said projection, said divider portion engaging the rear face of one of said sidewalls, so at least a portion of said divider portion being spaced from the edge of said projection a distance less than the thickness of said one of said sidewalls, said divider portion being so disposed from said projection that upon movement of Said divider portion in a direction opposite to that of said bottom wall said projection is forced into said recess so as to increase the engagement between the projection and said recess.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said projection extends from said plate portion generally at a right angle to a plane defined by said plate portion.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said plate is of a generally rectangular shape and said projection takes the form of a rib which extends across said plate for a length substantially equal to the length of said plate.
 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said plate is resilient to thereby cause said projection extending from said plate to releasably engage said recess.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said divider portion is resilient to thereby cause said projection to releasably engage said recess.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said divided portion converges toward said plate for at least a portion of the length of said divider portion.
 7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said divider portion diverges from said plate for at least a portion of the length of said divider portion.
 8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said convergent and divergent portions generally define an arcuate configuration wherein at least one point thereon is spaced from said projection said distance less than the thickness of said one of said sidewalls.
 9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said arcuate configuration engages the rear face of said one of said sidewalls so as to force said projection into said recess.
 10. A divider member for use in a display rack for separating a plurality of objects positioned in said display rack and comprising a retainer portion and a divider portion, said retainer portion including a plate portion having a projection with a free end extending therefrom for engagement with an inwardly extending recess in the front side of a wall member of said display rack, said divider portion being attached to said retainer portion and extending from said retainer portion in generally the same direction as said free end of said projection, said divider portion adapted to engage the rear side of said wall member with at least a portion of said divider positioned normally spaced from the edge of said projection a distance less than the thickness of said wall member, said divider portion being further so disposed from said projection that upward movement of said divider portion forces said projection into said recess to thereby increase the engagement between said projection and said recess. 